This article argues that a media and communication studies perspective on reading Marx’s Capital has thus far been missing, but is needed in the age of information capitalism and digital capitalism. Two of the most popular contemporary companions to Marx’s Capital, the ones by David Harvey and Michael Heinrich, present themselves as general guidebooks on how to read Marx, but are actually biased towards particular schools of Marxist thought. A contemporary reading of Marx needs to be mediated with contemporary capitalism’s structures and the political issues of the day. Media, communications and the Internet are important issues for such a reading today. It is time to see Marx not just as a critic of capitalism but also as a critic of capitalist communications.

Karl Marx in the Age of Big Data CapitalismFuchs, Christian 2019. Karl Marx in the Age of Big Data Capitalism. in: Chandler, D. and Fuchs, Christian (ed.) Digital Objects, Digital Subjects: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Capitalism, Labour and Politics in the Age of Big Data London University of Westminster Press. pp. 53-71

Theorising social media, politics and the state: an introductionTrottier, D. and Fuchs, Christian 2014. Theorising social media, politics and the state: an introduction. in: Social media, politics and the state: protests, revolutions, riots, crime and policing in the age of Facebook, Twitter and YouTube New York Routledge. pp. 3-38

Anonymous: Hacktivism and contemporary politicsFuchs, Christian 2014. Anonymous: Hacktivism and contemporary politics. in: Trottier, D. and Fuchs, Christian (ed.) Social media, politics and the state: protests, revolutions, riots, crime and policing in the age of Facebook, Twitter and YouTube New York Routledge. pp. 88-106

Class and exploitation on the internetFuchs, Christian 2013. Class and exploitation on the internet. in: Scholz, T. (ed.) Digital labor: the internet as playground and factory New York Routledge. pp. 211-224

Critique of the political economy of web 2.0 surveillanceFuchs, Christian 2012. Critique of the political economy of web 2.0 surveillance. in: Fuchs, Christian, Boersma, K., Albrechtslund, A. and Sandoval, M. (ed.) Internet and surveillance: the challenges of web 2.0 and social media New York Routledge. pp. 31-70